Newslinks for Saturday 23rd April 2016

EU 1) Boris attacked for Obama comments

“Boris Johnson was accused of ‘dog whistle racism’ and likened to right-wing ‘Tea Party’ politicians in the US this morning after his attack on the ‘part-Kenyan’ Barack Obama. The Mayor of London spoke out against the US President after he urged British voters to stay in the EU and mentioned his African ancestry as he criticised the decision to remove a bust of Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office shortly after Mr Obama entered the White House.” – Daily Mail

President hits back at Boris over ‘ancestral dislike’ of UK comments – The Times (£)

“When the Americans subjected Vietnam to “rolling thunder”, they carried all before them militarily, but they did not win hearts and minds. Strange that Barack Obama, who has been so extraordinarily pacific in the face of extremist threat, should get so belligerent when the electors of his closest democratic ally show signs of wanting to recover their liberty.” – Daily Telegraph

EU 2) Farage mulls rebanding UKIP as an online ‘movement’

“Nigel Farage’s allies are discussing proposals to overhaul Ukip and make it a wider, internet-based organisation like the Italian movement Five Star. Prominent party figures want to change the shape of Ukip and alter its policymaking process after the EU referendum on June 23. Mr Farage has spoken publicly of his admiration for Five Star… It has become a tour de force in Italian politics by pioneering online engagement, allowing all members to vote to decide its policies and political moves.” – The Times (£)

Matthew Parris: New-look UKIP threatens Cameron’s legacy

“It could begin the crystallisation of something already lurking within Conservatism: a party within a party. If @nukip were not challenging Tory candidates in elections but were simply a philosophical movement that anyone was free to join, and if they trod carefully and gave the Tory hierarchy no excuse to proscribe them as an organisation, I don’t see how the virus could be combated.” – The Times (£)

Davidson tells Cameron that SNP will not have mandate for second independence vote…

“The Prime Minister should tell Nicola Sturgeon to “take a hike” if she asks for a second independence referendum as the wording of the SNP manifesto would not give her a mandate, Ruth Davidson has said. The Scottish Conservative leader told STV News that her advice to David Cameron would be not to give permission for a rerun even if the Nationalists get a majority in next month’s Holyrood election.” – Daily Telegraph

Cameron will not join Scottish leader on the campaign trail – The Scotsman

…as Davies sets out his vision for a Tory Wales

“The idea of a Welsh Conservative Government is one that many will find implausible – the party has never won a majority of seats in Wales since property qualifications to vote were abolished. But Andrew RT Davies, the party’s Welsh leader, has made a speech in Cardiff in which he set out what changes he would like to make if the party were to win the Assembly election on May 5.” – Wales Online

The boy who thinks he could be Wales’ first Conservative First Minister – Wales Online

Trump plans to be ‘boring’ candidate

“Donald Trump has promised that he will become so presidential his supporters will be “so bored,” as his senior adviser was recorded admitting that the brash billionaire was just playing a role for the campaign and will soon tone down his rhetoric… “I just don’t know if I want to do it yet,” he said. “At some point, I’m going to be so presidential that you people will be so bored.”” – Daily Telegraph

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